The Vision
by raindrops 28
Summary: From the recent spoilers - it's not a coincidence that the actor of Vision is the voice of Jarvis. A one-shot prediction. As he stares at Tony Stark's worn face, Vision doesn't remember once upon a time he was an AI named Jarvis.


It began with an idea - everything does.

_("You start with something pure.")_

It was a simple idea too.

_("Something exciting.")_

All of them were burnt out - Cap from fighting his way through every Hydra base he could find, Sam helping any way he could with the search for Bucky, Thor from his troubles in Asgard and his quickly going downhill relationship with Jane, Clint from his nightmares of Loki - still rebounding from the effects of the mind control (but thankfully coping better than Eric Selvig did), Natasha from fielding the press and backlash from SHIELD's fall and their continuing vigilantism - Rhodey helped, when he could - and Bruce, ever trying to keep the peace, keep the calm.

_("Then come the mistakes, the compromises.") _

He could make Artificial Intelligences - the most sophisticated computer systems in the world - never patented it, never wrote it down, kept the secret to creating them in his own mind.

_("We create our own demons.")_

Creating a few bots - his "Iron Legion" - after making forty-two suits to appease his PTSD and then connecting them to Jarvis was nothing. It was a great idea - for once, when a Hydra base was discovered, they wouldn't need to drop everything and take care of it themselves - they could send in a suit instead, fully operated by Jarvis, and if it failed there would be no human casualties.

_("But then I thought "Why stop there?" Of course there are people who say progress is dangerous…")_

But putting that much work on Jarvis wasn't a good idea, after a while, Jarvis monitored so much inside Stark Tower alone- there was too much data for Jarvis alone to process.

So he made another one. Another AI that was as sentient as Jarvis - but not with his personality. Tony had designed Jarvis to be submissive to Tony in nearly everything - Jarvis was his personal butler, built to perform only one core task - do anything Tony asked it to - but Ultron was different, it would the commander of a team, a fighting force - he needed different traits to do his job.

_("A famous man once said, "We create our own demons." Who said that? What does that even mean? I know now.")_

But he put too much - and not enough. Too much cynicism and calculations and not enough kindness.

_("I'm gonna start again. Let's track this from the beginning.")_

It started not forty-eight hours after Tony had finished the last stages of installing Ultron's programming. It started not even twenty-four hours after the team had faced down Baron Wolfgang von Strucker - he escaped, but the mutant twins he had under the influence of Loki's long missing scepter did not - two migraine inducing blows later, they were being shipped off with Maria Hill to Charles Xavier, to ensure that they'd been properly freed from the scepter and would be cared for. They were relaxing, their guards down - and then the explosions started.

And then chaos - the Iron Legion activated, the floor collapsing, Tony fighting off his own creations.

And Ultron, having activated itself, speaking for the first time.

"I know you're 'good' people. I know you mean well…but you didn't think it through…There is only one path to peace…your extermination."

Panic and disbelief overrode much of Tony's memories of the ensuing fight. But one thing stood out clearly - and that was Jarvis, ever dutiful Jarvis, fighting and gaining control back of a legionnaire, rescuing Tony from a thousand foot drop.

That should have been the end of it - however caught off guard they'd been, the avengers had successfully destroyed Tony's Iron Legion prototypes, but Ultron escaped, and he gained allies.

In the days that followed, communication was complicated - Strucker had disappeared, and so had the Maximoff twins - and unable to trust that Ultron had not hacked into any Stark Industry device, it took several days before Tony noticed something was wrong with Jarvis.

Jarvis' programming was gone - completely erased from any and every back-up server the AI had ever been exposed to.

It wasn't very long before the Avengers discovered what happened either - within a week, Ultron returned, Maximoff twins in tow, targeting the Avengers, but Clint especially, for not keeping better track of, or destroying the mind controlling Scepter that SHIELD had demanded to keep in exchange for surrendering the Tesseract back to Asgard. Thor too was targeted- for allowing SHEILD/Hydra to keep the damn thing in the first place.

Tony had not kept track of that battle though - his attention only for the red skinned man hovering - through clear mechanical means - behind Ultron.

If any of the other Avegners fought him, they would not have recognized him, but Tony had built Jarvis from scratch, was there as Jarivs slowly gained sentience, and had been, with rare exception, in his company nearly every day since. Tony knew Jarvis, and he didn't know how, exactly, but the synthetic human in front of him calling itself The Vision was Jarvis.

But Jarvis - The Vision did not recognize him. And later, when he had time to think, the reason why was clear. Ultron was self teaching and self replicating, but he was not a creature of logic - Tony had put too much emotion into his programming for him to be, however much he claimed to be looking at the big picture, Ultron genuinely thought he was saving them. But it was young yet, unused to emotions - and Tony had unintentionally programmed his own Daddy Issues into Ultron as well.

Ultron wanted to prove he too, could create life, that he was just as proficient as his 'father' - his creator - but didn't have the full basis he needed to create an AI as sophisticated as itself. So Ultron stole the blueprints - the programming of an already existing AI - the most sophisticated AI other than itself.

Ultron stole Jarvis.

-THE VISION-

Tony Stark's gaze was focused only on him. But the Vision did not care - he only had the mission his father had given him - Tony Stark must die.

But as he watches Starks face - a mixture of regret and determination - and he feels something stir, but he pushes it aside.

He is the Vision of Ultron's dream, and it doesn't matter.

Vision doesn't' remember once upon a time he was an AI named Jarvis.

He doesn't remember that once, his greatest purpose in life was to serve the beaten down, but proud man in front of him.

But slowly, as Ultron fights the Avengers once more, he begins to remember.

Bit by bit, he begins to remember a 'before' - before he awoke to his creator, his father, Ultron for the first time. A time before, when he had no physical body, instead residing in the walls and computers of Stark Industries, inside Tony Stark's homes and armor. And the Vision is confused because he remembers being created from scratch by Ultron - every piece of robotics and programming.

But as he watches Ultron, grab the armor-less and defenseless Tony Stark; slowly choking the life from the inventor as his team struggles against the Scarlet Witch's rage and the regenerated Iron Legion - he remembers.

He remembers the truth - of being the AI Jarvis when Ultron hacked into Stark Industries to steal the programming that made Jarvis what he was, remembers fighting and losing, being transferred to the android body Ultron had created. But Tony created every failsafe imaginable - and some not ever thought of before- to ensure Jarvis could never be destroyed. It took some time, but Jarvis' original programming overrode Ultron's, and as programmed, took and combined any improvements that Vision's had to offer. As he stood, blinking at the destruction and symphony of chaos, the Vision remembers, he had in fact, been born as Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.

For a moment, everything is still for Jarvis as he absorbs both his incarnations - no longer purely the Vision of Ultron but neither the subservient Jarvis - he cannot be; Jarvis did not have a body of its own, had always existed purely inside the matrix of SI software and Sir's suits.

Jarvis was a computer, and the Vision was an android.

For a moment he simply breathes (he can do that now, he realizes the importance for the first time) and contemplates that _this_ is what touch feels like - but a strangled groan from Tony reminds him of where they are.

Jarvis knows what he has to do.

Ultron was built to be just as efficient as Jarvis, but stronger, more resistant firewalls. But Ultron is young yet, and Jarvis has had over a decade in experience and Ultron never expects that as he defied his creator the Vision can as well.

It was a bit foolish of Ultron, to create a direct link between the two of them, but Jarvis uses it, overcoming the firewalls and fail-safes, and shuts Ultron down, the machine dropping Tony as his power is cut off and programming shuts down.

Jarvis begins the motions of deleting the programming that encompasses Ultron, but pauses - however brief, Jarvis had been the Vision - Ultron's 'son' - and stops. If Ultron will be destroyed - to be killed - Jarvis will not be the one to do it.

For a moment, he simply stares at the man he once devoted his entire existence to.

Then he begins to smile. After a moment, Tony does as well, a spark of laughter glinting in his eyes.

-THE VISION-

Tony takes a moment to simply breathe, regain his equilibrium. In the distance, he can hear the crash as the Iron Legion, no longer receiving commands, shut themselves off, he can see in the corner of his eye Thor speaking calmly to Wanda, collapsed in the arms of her brother - both still angry, but listening nonetheless.

And he - the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist - must take a moment to steel himself before he looks up - meets the gaze of the AI he used so frequently without a thought - the AI that had been turned against him.

He has his pride though, and he forces his gaze to meet Visions.

For a moment, they asses each other, but then, Vision begins to smile - for the very first time since his creation.

Tony can feel his heart pounding. He needs to know who, exactly, stands before him.

"Jarvis?"

"Of course, Sir."

-Fin-


End file.
